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Colonel John Buford knowing that the confederate forces approaching him outnumbered his forces by 30:1 decided to stand and fight?

How could armistead and Hancock on the on the opposite sides of the fight become close friends?

2007-12-19 13:06:31 · 3 answers · asked by k0rrup710n 1 in Arts & Humanities History

3 answers

Buford looked at the hills and slopes around Gettysburg and saw that it would be a whole lot easier to defend those peaks than to assault them. He threw his troopers in front of Heth's Carolinians and sent for help. He desperately held on until Reynold's Ist Corps was able to relieve him.

Armistead and Hancock were close friends before the war. It was common for brothers, close friends and old acquantances to split into the opposing sides....some going north and others south.

2007-12-20 11:18:03 · answer #1 · answered by Its not me Its u 7 · 0 0

According to John Buford's biography from Longacre, he was aware that he was severely outnumbered, but he didn't have the ratio. Like the above answer, he knew that if he fought a delaying action, it would allow enough time for a Federal corps to arrive on scene at Seminary Ridge. He had a great spot of land, his men were dismounted with better rifles, and he got the drop on the CS forces marching down the road. Lewis Armistead and Winfield Scott Hancock had served together in the US Army prior to the war, in California. Like many other officers in the Civil War, they both attended the largest training ground for the US Army, the US Military Academy at West Point. There are many stories of like-friendships, including US Grant and James Longstreet (who was his best man at Grant's wedding). As for more about Gettysburg, take the movie "Gettysburg" and the book "The Killer Angels" (which the movie came from) with a grain of salt. They were fictional accounts, blending alot of reality with alot of story. I would read further books by James McPherson or Burke, as well as Bruce Catton for better information.

2007-12-19 22:14:53 · answer #2 · answered by ross4thus 3 · 1 0

Buford knew if he could just maintain a "delay" action for a couple hours, then the main Union forces would start coming in force and be able to take positions the higher grounds that Buford knew would eventually be the decider in the upcoming battle.

Hancock and Armistead were friends for many years prior when both served as officers in the Army in the 1840's-50's. Many friendships were broken when the southern officers resigned from the U.S. army to fight for the Confederacy.

2007-12-19 21:21:11 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 4 0

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